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Tag: Dracula

This month the H. P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast has been covering Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Knowing I still have a brain stuffed with far too much information on the book thanks to the work Leah and I did on The Complete Dracula, Chris and Chad were kind enough to invite me on to talk about the dramatic climax of the book when the tables turn and the Count goes from hunter to hunted.

The episode is available to subscribers only but if you’re interested in Lovecraft and Weird Fiction it is well worth signing up.

1930s Jiu Jitsu with May Whitley – this brilliant video has evidently been online for a while now (although the version linked to is a pretty recent upload) but Greg Taylor brought it to my attention this week. It reminded him of my article from SteamPunk Magazine #6 entitled Baritsu, Bartitsu, and the Ju-Jutsuffragettes.

The Bram Stoker Series is a subscription only series from The Swan River Press. For €25.00 (including postage and packing), subscribers will receive each new title shortly after its publication date.

The first of three brand new titles (following on from 2010’s Four Romances by Mr. Bram Stoker, Bram Stoker’s Other Gothics–Contemporary Reviews, and Extracts from Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving by Bram Stoker) is coming in January 2011.

Contemporary Reviews of “Dracula”

“Over the decades, as with so many other iconic stories, Dracula has fallen prey to numerous popularly held misconceptions. Until recently we had ourselves laboured under one such misconception: that Dracula was not well received by the reading public when it was first published. We believed it to have been something of a disappointment where sales where concerned; an overlooked treasure, ahead of its time, destined to be rediscovered at a later date… we also assumed that some of the subtler aspects of the novel, which give the post-modern reader satisfaction, might have gone over the heads of the nineteenth century audience. How could a stuffy Victorian possibly get pleasure from this book in the same way a twenty-first century reader might? Needless to say — as this volume of reviews demonstrates — we grossly underestimated not only the horror reader of 1897, but also, to some degree, Mr. Stoker himself.”

Contemporary Reviews of “Dracula” collects together a selection of reviews of Stoker’s seminal work shortly after it was published in England in 1897 and in America in 1899. These reviews — both complimentary and critical — give insight into Dracula’s initial public reception, unmarred by decades of misconceptions, academic scrutiny and literary legendary. Assembled from the list provided by Richard Dalby and William Hughes in their Bram Stoker: A Bibliography, these reviews appeared in many of the leading publications of their day, including The Spectator, Punch, Vanity Fair, and The Athenaeum. The booklet includes an insightful introduction by Leah Moore and John Reppion, who faithfully adapted Dracula as a graphic novel; and also reproduces first edition US and UK covers, as well as two short reviews of Dracula’s Guest and Other Weird Stories (1914).

Contemporary Reviews of “Dracula” will be followed by To My Dear Friend Hommy-Beg: The Great Friendship of Bram Stoker and Hall Caine, introduced by Richard Dalby, and The Definitive Judge’s House, with an introduction and frontpiece by Mike Mignola and endnotes and afterword by Jack G. Voller.

The paperback edition of The Complete Dracula, our massive comic book adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Gothic classic, is out worldwide later this week.

Dynamite Entertainment presents an unprecedented comic book series that tells the complete story of the Lord of the Undead – Dracula! For the first time in 112 years, the tale that Bram Stoker intended to tell is told (including “Dracula’s Guest”).

Writers Leah Moore and John Reppion are joined by painter Colton Worley for a fully painted series, reprinted here in this softcover collected edition. All of the stunning covers by John Cassaday are included, along with script pages, annotations by Leah Moore and John Reppion and samplings of the original text by Bram Stoker!

We’re honored to have made it onto the long-list for the 2010 British Fantasy Society Awards with our Dynamite Entertainment adaptation The Complete Dracula. We’re up against some ridiculously strong competition so we really, really do need your help to get onto the short-list.

The Bram Stoker Series is a new subscription only series from The Swan River Press. For €25.00 (including postage and packing), subscribers will receive each of the three titles shortly after their respective publication dates.

The first of the three titles, Four Romances,is available now.

Here collected for the first time since their original publication in periodicals, these four romances display a side of Bram Stoker’s writing somewhat less familiar to modern readers. Even so, these tales are not quite devoid of the elements we have come to expect from the master of horror, mystery, cruelty and black humour. Spanning Stoker’s literary career, this volume reprints “Greater Love” (1914), “Our New House” (1886), “A Yellow Duster” (1899) and “The Way of Peace” (1909). Rounding out the collection is an introduction by Stoker biographer Paul Murray and a never before printed essay, “Rules for Domestic Happiness”, by Charlotte M. B. Stoker — Bram’s mother, who is often credited with instilling in the young author an early sense of fatalism and the macabre.

“As the Count leaned over me and his hands touched me… a horrible feeling of nausea came over me, which, do what I would, I could not conceal.” – Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Dynamite Entertainment presents an unprecedented comic book series that tells the complete story of the Lord of the Undead – Dracula! For the first time in 112 years, the tale that Bram Stoker intended to tell is told (including “Dracula’s Guest”).

Writers Leah Moore and John Reppion are joined by painter Colton Worley for a fully painted series, reprinted here in this hardcover collected edition. All of the stunning covers by John Cassaday are included, along with script pages, annotations by Leah Moore and John Reppion and samplings of the original text by Bram Stoker!

There have been some changes this issue, the most obvious being the introduction of Mr. Dheeraj Verma to the team (and we are, of course, very pleased to have him aboard).

As usual, our author’s notes in the back of the book will tell you everything you could possibly want to know about the issue (and probably some stuff you didn’t want to know too) as well as showing the script to finished artwork process.

Don’t forget to drop into the Forum and tell us what you think of the issue.

The Complete Dracula #2 will arrive in shops across the USA & Canada tomorrow (UK & Europe on Thursday).

The second issue begins with the story of the doomed ship The Demeter as it sails from Varna to Whitby carrying a deadly cargo. The voyage takes place between mid July and early August so, for those of you following the story in real time via Dracula Blogged, Blog Dracula or Real Time Dracula (with all it’s Twitter based goodness), the action is actually taking place as I type.

For those of you who can’t wait to get your hands on a copy of #2 here’s a sneek preview of pages 1 to 5 – digitally painted by Mr. Colton Worley (take a bow sir) ably assited by Mr. Aaron Campbell’s splendid layouts.

We’ll be rounding off our mini signing tour this coming Saturday at the new SubCity Comics (unit 5 West Essex St. – just off Dame St.) from 1pm.

We’ll be signing copies of The Complete Dracula #1, The Trial of Sherlock Holmes #1 & #2 as well as collected editions and anything else Rob has knocking about the place. This is likely to be our last visit to Dublin for a while (this year at least) so it would be great to see as many of our Irish chums as possible while we’re over. See you Saturday!

Who could have predicted that following the great zombie panic of 2007/2008 (during which we did our best to spread the infection with Raise the Dead) vampires would become the monster du jour of 2009? Well, luckily for us, we (or at least Dynamite Entertainment) sort of did.

It’s thanks to that kind of eerie forward planning that we find ourselves interviewed about The Complete Draculain the pages of the brand new SFX Magazine Vampire Special alongside the likes of James (Spike) Marsters, Anita Blake author Laurell K Hamilton, Let the Right One In director Tomas Alfredson and many, many other bloodsucker related folks.

As you’d expect the special is also packed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twilight realted features and goodies (including posters and drinks coasters) as well as a pocket sized book of the 1819 novella The Vampyre and Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla – two stories that are believed to have influenced Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

It’s nice to be “on trend” with TCD but I think it might also be worth mentioning that we did write another vampire book not so long ago. The Darkness vs. Eva – Daughter of Dracula was a 4 issue Dynamite/Top Cow series published between March and June 2008 with art by the fantastic Edgar (Project Superpowers) Salazar.

The series sees Darkness wielder and mob boss Jackie Estacado having a bit of a problem with an influx of vampires, werewolves and other supernatural nasties into his city. One of these visitors just happens to be Graf Von Orlock – an ancient vampire with a plan to gain the upper hand over the mortals. Meanwhile Eva Tepes – Daughter of Dracula, sucked through time and stranded in modern day USA, is busy doing what she does best: slaying evil wherever she finds it. When Eva interrupts a ritual Jackie finds that his control of The Darkness is slipping – just what he needs when vampires have decided to take a bite out of his business.